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Posted to alexandria-dev@jakarta.apache.org by Chris Todd <ct...@alabanza.com> on 2000/08/19 20:07:02 UTC
idea: search function for APIs
Hello everyone-
I am a bit of a Java newbie, and one of the things I have found most
frustrating in learning Java is absorbing all of the APIs, and learning
which packages have the function or class that I need. I always thought Sun
should have established some kind of web-like search function for the API,
such that Java newbies could quickly and easily find the exact class or
function they needed.
Does such a utility exist, and if not, have any of you considered adding
such a function to Alexandria? Do you think such a function would be
useful? Are there any Open Source Java-based implementations of search
engines that could be easily integrated into Alexandria?
Of course, if this were added to Alexandria, it could easily be applied not
only to the Java API, but to any API that is organized by Alexandria. This
might help developers that are new to Open Source projects get up to speed
more quickly.
Sincerest regards,
Chris Todd
Software Engineer
Alabanza Corporation
ctodd@alabanza.com
Re: idea: search function for APIs
Posted by burtonator <bu...@relativity.yi.org>.
Chris Todd wrote:
>
> Kevin-
>
> Great, I had assumed that was the general idea.
>
> I checked out the Linux Cross Reference, which is apparently the model for
> the Java Cross Reference,
yup :)
> and I liked the idea of being able to search for
> function names (and class names, too?). Is the JXR itself a search engine,
> or am I missing the point? Your comment below about putting Alexandria
> behind a search engine makes me wonder if I understand exactly what
> Alexandria is supposed to do. ;-)
<snip>
It doesn't actually perform the searching. You can put the content
behind a search engine if you want (it is just HTML).
That said we should expose an XML query mechanism. Perhaps with the
Cocoon XML Doclet we can produce a general index for all the code.
Kevin
--
** Should SUN Open Source Java? Please Vote:
http://relativity.yi.org/java **
Kevin A Burton (e-mail: burton@apache.org, UIN: 73488596, ZKey:
burtonator)
http://relativity.yi.org
Message to SUN Microsystems: "Please Open Source Java!"
To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence;
supreme
excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
- Sun Tzu, 300 B.C.
RE: idea: search function for APIs
Posted by Chris Todd <ct...@alabanza.com>.
Kevin-
Great, I had assumed that was the general idea.
I checked out the Linux Cross Reference, which is apparently the model for
the Java Cross Reference, and I liked the idea of being able to search for
function names (and class names, too?). Is the JXR itself a search engine,
or am I missing the point? Your comment below about putting Alexandria
behind a search engine makes me wonder if I understand exactly what
Alexandria is supposed to do. ;-)
Sincerest regards,
Chris Todd
Software Engineer
Alabanza Corporation
ctodd@alabanza.com
> -----Original Message-----
> From: burton@relativity.yi.org [mailto:burton@relativity.yi.org]
> Sent: Sunday, August 20, 2000 1:42 AM
> To: alexandria-dev@java.apache.org
> Subject: Re: idea: search function for APIs
>
>
> Chris Todd wrote:
> >
> > Hello everyone-
> >
> > I am a bit of a Java newbie, and one of the things I have found most
> > frustrating in learning Java is absorbing all of the APIs, and learning
> > which packages have the function or class that I need. I
> always thought Sun
> > should have established some kind of web-like search function
> for the API,
> > such that Java newbies could quickly and easily find the exact class or
> > function they needed.
> >
> > Does such a utility exist, and if not, have any of you considered adding
> > such a function to Alexandria? Do you think such a function would be
> > useful? Are there any Open Source Java-based implementations of search
> > engines that could be easily integrated into Alexandria?
> >
> > Of course, if this were added to Alexandria, it could easily be
> applied not
> > only to the Java API, but to any API that is organized by
> Alexandria. This
> > might help developers that are new to Open Source projects get
> up to speed
> > more quickly.
>
> Funny you should bring that up :)
>
> This is one of the reasons I started Alexandria. I just realized on day
> that there was all this public source code but no way to manage it.
> Sure you could check out multiple CVS modules but this doesn't help when
> you are trying to search for something.
>
> Alexandria currently tries to fix this. If you put it behind a search
> engine it can help you search for code (by indexing the Javadoc).
>
> This should be exactly what you need. :)
>
> Kevin
>
> --
> ** Should SUN Open Source Java? Please Vote:
> http://relativity.yi.org/java **
>
> Kevin A Burton (e-mail: burton@apache.org, UIN: 73488596, ZKey:
> burtonator)
> http://relativity.yi.org
> Message to SUN Microsystems: "Please Open Source Java!"
> To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence;
> supreme
> excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
> - Sun Tzu, 300 B.C.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: alexandria-dev-unsubscribe@java.apache.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: alexandria-dev-help@java.apache.org
>
Re: idea: search function for APIs
Posted by burtonator <bu...@relativity.yi.org>.
Chris Todd wrote:
>
> Hello everyone-
>
> I am a bit of a Java newbie, and one of the things I have found most
> frustrating in learning Java is absorbing all of the APIs, and learning
> which packages have the function or class that I need. I always thought Sun
> should have established some kind of web-like search function for the API,
> such that Java newbies could quickly and easily find the exact class or
> function they needed.
>
> Does such a utility exist, and if not, have any of you considered adding
> such a function to Alexandria? Do you think such a function would be
> useful? Are there any Open Source Java-based implementations of search
> engines that could be easily integrated into Alexandria?
>
> Of course, if this were added to Alexandria, it could easily be applied not
> only to the Java API, but to any API that is organized by Alexandria. This
> might help developers that are new to Open Source projects get up to speed
> more quickly.
Funny you should bring that up :)
This is one of the reasons I started Alexandria. I just realized on day
that there was all this public source code but no way to manage it.
Sure you could check out multiple CVS modules but this doesn't help when
you are trying to search for something.
Alexandria currently tries to fix this. If you put it behind a search
engine it can help you search for code (by indexing the Javadoc).
This should be exactly what you need. :)
Kevin
--
** Should SUN Open Source Java? Please Vote:
http://relativity.yi.org/java **
Kevin A Burton (e-mail: burton@apache.org, UIN: 73488596, ZKey:
burtonator)
http://relativity.yi.org
Message to SUN Microsystems: "Please Open Source Java!"
To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence;
supreme
excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
- Sun Tzu, 300 B.C.